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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28179567">Sunlight and Storms</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalPixieDust/pseuds/RegalPixieDust'>RegalPixieDust</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:42:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,080</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28179567</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalPixieDust/pseuds/RegalPixieDust</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>OQ Advent! Who doesn't love some ballet dancing and OQ?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evil Queen | Regina Mills &amp; Robin Hood, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Royal Ballet School in London has always been Regina's dream. She gets to dance as much as she wants while <em>just</em> out of her mother's tight grip.</p>
<p>Getting the scholarship for her final year was like being handed a ticket to freedom for a whole year and she was already packing her bags before her mother could get a word in edgewise.</p>
<p>Since moving to London, things had been going so well. She has been at the top of all of her classes, even the silly Jazz and Character Dance modules the school demanded that she take, even though she has absolutely no interest in them.</p>
<p>Her heart belongs to Contemporary and Classical Ballet - her strongest areas without a doubt.</p>
<p>She has been having the best semester of her life, garnering positive attention from dance companies all over the world, but as winter and bright Christmas lights swept through the streets of London, so did the decline of her perfect feedback.</p>
<p>Alisdair Gold's Winter Showcase is a coveted event for the school but is the literal definition of hell for the students. It's not only a mandatory performance to raise money for the campus, but it's an assessment, one that essentially can make or break a dancer's career.</p>
<p>Students before her have nicknamed it <em>fairytale month</em> but there's nothing fairytale about it. Regina has seen more bloody pointe shoes and tears in the last two weeks than over the entire summer and autumn months she has been here.</p>
<p>Every year, Gold takes over the choreography module and designates each student with a fairytale character of his choosing. Students are required to choreograph and perform a short piece that brings that character to life, and Gold is adamant that there is no wrong way to do the task, all he asks for is creativity and commitment.</p>
<p>That is a huge lie.</p>
<p>Regina was excited at first, desperate to get this character from him and begin working on her number. There was a multitude of possibilities he could have given her: Little Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, or even the Swan Princess. He handed them out like candy canes to excited children but he might as well have buried Regina in coal when he revealed her fate as The Evil Queen.</p>
<p>She has tried her best to keep her mother's identity a secret amongst her classmates but if they had any idea that Cora Mills was her mother, they would understand why being assigned a villain for her assessment was probably the cruellest things he could have done. Cora Mills has built her reputation in the dancing world as The Queen of Hearts. Companies literally fight over her to play the role in their performances.</p>
<p>Yet again, just as Regina feels like she is seconds from being released from her mother's shadow, someone or something comes along and shoves her right back into the darkness.</p>
<p>If being assigned The Evil Queen wasn't bad enough, after their first formal rehearsal and Gold's first time seeing the classes performances, he made a point of name dropping her mother for everyone to hear and looked as if he enjoyed telling Regina that Cora seemed to have the edge in the family.</p>
<p>Most of the feedback for everyone was negative, bar a select few who managed to actually impress Gold.</p>
<p>Her rival is at the end of the bar, glowing as anyone would after an entire rehearsal of being top of the class. He's being subtly smug about it all, laughing with everyone around him who are desperately trying not to cry as they remember the way Gold told them they were terrible every other second.</p>
<p>She's staring at his smug face, narrowing her eyes in annoyance as he lets another easy laugh rip through the tension he's creating in the room.</p>
<p>"Dare I ask?" Robin asks, coyly smiling at her, intrigued.</p>
<p>Robin is a bartender at the pub attached to the rehearsal theatre, and a lot of the students frequent after a long rehearsal, most still clad in their high buns and leotards, even though not a single one of them drinks; they all gather inside the brightly lit, fancy pub in the middle of Covent Garden to grasp at all that the very little that life offers them to feel normal.</p>
<p>Had she not left her bag in the bar one night, she and Robin wouldn't know each other's names. He went above and beyond to get her belongings back to her once, claiming to know the <em>ballet type</em> and how much she would have freaked if she didn't have what she needed for her next class.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, that wasn't a lie. He really does understand the ballet world and it's the most pleasant thing about him. They've become quite close over the last couple of months, he even gifted her with her very first Christmas card of the season last week.</p>
<p>"I don't know what you're talking about," Regina insists, smiling tightly and playing around with the paper straw turned soggy in her glass.</p>
<p>He chuckles at her, shaking his head like she's brushed him off like this a million times, knowing how much she is full of it. "You mean you aren't giving the poor lad at the end of the bar a death glare that could kill?"</p>
<p>"He's an ass," she moans, leaning down to sip what is left of her sparkling water.</p>
<p>"I'm sure," Robin agrees, still shaking his head at her playfully.</p>
<p>He straightens up as if a sudden realisation has washed over him and glances to the back of the bar at the calendar pinned behind the bottled spirits. "Oh no," Robin sighs, taking a quick glance around the disheartened dancers around the room before leaning on his elbows in front of her. "It's fairytale month isn't it?"</p>
<p>Regina sinks against the bar as the reminder reinvigorates the weight she came in here desperately trying to rid of.</p>
<p>"Ugh," she scoffs. "It's so stupid. And pretty boy over there is the class favourite at the moment," she scowls, nodding to the other side of the bar. Robin tilts his head at her, being as annoyingly welcome as usual. "August Wood," she tells him. "We danced for Gold today and he was praised. The rest of us, not so much."</p>
<p>"Who is his character?" Robin asks, slyly looking over his shoulder at August, who is allowing Gold's glorifying comments to seep from his pores for the entire pub to see. "Prince Charming?"</p>
<p>Regina laughs, snorts almost, shaking her head, "He wishes. No. Pinnochio. And as much as I hate to admit it, he actually did a nice job with it."</p>
<p>"Call me crazy," Robin whispers over the loud chatter, "But dancing as a boy made of wood is hardly impressive, is it?"</p>
<p>She smiles. Big.</p>
<p>"I never thought of it like that," she smirks, entirely welcoming of his outlook and more than happy to adopt it as her own.</p>
<p>"Who'd you get?" He asks casually, wiping across the bar for no other reason than to give the illusion that he's working.</p>
<p>Regina sinks again, her shoulders slumping as she mumbles, "The Evil Queen. And according to Gold, I couldn't have done a more terrible job with it. Apparently, my ability to tap into a complex character is lacking."</p>
<p>Hearing that her dancing is less than stellar isn't exactly something she's used to. When Gold nitpicked, not just her routine, but her entire performance in front of everybody, she swears she felt her soul crack.</p>
<p>He smiles sympathetically, offering her another glass of sparkling water and a new straw and tosses away the soggy mess her other one had become.</p>
<p>"Gold is rough," Robin mentions. "But from what I understand, he's only tough on the dancers he knows have something else hidden inside."</p>
<p>Her heart sinks, "I'd hope after fourteen years of training, he could see that I gave him everything I had. I didn't miss a step or a turnout, I-"</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm sure you were technically perfect," Robin assures, ignoring the impatient waving of other patrons down the bar. "But Gold doesn't care about how good of a dancer you are. He's all about the artistry. He's trying to pull out a new side of you. Maybe he thinks you need to dig a bit deeper."</p>
<p>Irritation washes over her. She left rehearsal and came here to get away from being told that she isn't good enough and he has the nerve to stand there and give an opinion she didn't even ask for.</p>
<p>And he keeps going, still chatting to her as he pours drinks for the people next to her, "Gold doesn't care how you dance. He cares <em>why</em> you dance. This assignment is always to challenge you that way."</p>
<p>"How would you know that?" Regina holds back the bite, squeezing and collapsing her straw between her fingertips</p>
<p>"Because this is my third year working here," he tells hers, "and I promise you, you are not the first ballerina I've had aggressively drinking sparkling water after his peer assessments at my bar."</p>
<p>She can't pinpoint why, but what he says doesn't resonate well with her. It's almost as if Gold has coerced Robin to continue the tirade.</p>
<p>Regina laughs bitterly, "And do you give them all this unnecessary pep talk or am I just lucky?" She begins to fight with her large puffer winter hack, putting it back on over her purple sweater.</p>
<p>"Uh…" Robin stops in his tracks, watching as she rustles through her wallet angrily for change to pay for her drink. "What exactly is happening right now?"</p>
<p>"You've annoyed me," she moans, slapping the coins on the wood of the bar before wrapping her scarf around her neck. "People come to bars to get away from the shit that they want to forget and you think you can just give pointless opinions that make them feel awful?"</p>
<p>"That wasn't my intention," Robin defends quickly, before being interrupted by his boss from across the room, telling him to take <em>his girl </em>and <em>their problems</em> outside.</p>
<p>Robin's face washes over with red and regret as apologies continue to spill from his lips, towards everyone at this point. He rounds the bar and follows her outside into the chilly air of brightly lit Covent Garden. He can see her breath as she breathes heavily in frustration.</p>
<p>"I appear to have hit a nerve," Robin mutters, entirely expecting the eye roll she provides him in response.</p>
<p>"Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to hear criticism from a world-renowned choreographer let alone a person who is supposed to be a friend and doesn't know a single thing about dancing?"</p>
<p>Robin releases a disheartened laugh, "First of all, you have never asked me what I know or don't about dance. Second, I'm just telling you the truth <em>because</em> I'm a friend."</p>
<p>"You work in a bar attached to a theatre, that doesn't make you a dance expert," Regina scoffs. "If I ever need help pouring one liquid into another, you'll be the first person I call."</p>
<p>"How sheltered of a life have you lived that you are incapable of accepting constructive criticism?" he asks, shoving his hands into his jean pockets with a frustrated sigh. "He says you're having trouble tapping into evil? You could have fooled me."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Regina has been a ball of anxiety most of the evening. She hates how she left things with Robin.</p><p>After a few hours of reflecting, she can recognise that she overreacted and let the tenderness of her wounds dictate the things she said to him and they were absolutely awful.</p><p>She didn't go home right away, instead, she booked into a late-night studio for a few more hours of practice. The music is blaring around her, she's ready to dance but the guilt of her words are keeping her weighted to the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her, pointing and relaxing her feet in time with the beat of the song she chose.</p><p>She doesn't notice his presence in the doorway right away, but when he tactfully scuffs his shoes, creating a squeak against the hallway floor, she stands immediately with her mouth agape, filled with several questions she can't decide to ask first.</p><p>Instead, she scurries to her phone to turn off the blaring music and musters up and delicate, "Hi."</p><p>"Hey," he smiles softly, stepping into the studio, dropping his backpack by the door.</p><p>"How did you know I was here?" She asks, crossing her arms against her black leotard.</p><p>"August told me that you are partial to a late-night rehearsal," he explains. "I felt awful about what I said to you and I really wanted to apologise so that the guilt doesn't eat away at me until morning."</p><p>Regina sighs a hefty breath of relief and agrees, "Me too. I'm sorry. You were just trying to be supportive and I insulted you."</p><p>"It's okay," he assures. "As I said, you aren't the first ballerina to speak her mind in my face. You'd think I would learn but there aren't many of you that are keen to hear what I have to say."</p><p>Regina smiles tightly, nodding as a way to accept his apology, "We're stubborn."</p><p>"That's one hell of an understatement," he laughs, taking a beat of silence before adding, "You're the first one I've felt the need to chase after, though."</p><p>Her heart stops for a beat or two, the curiosity consuming her before she asks, "Why?"</p><p>"I don't know," he shrugs his shoulders from inside the layers of a flannel shirt and padded coat. "I want to help you with this. You're one of the most passionate dancers I've ever met, this routine can't be as bad as you think it is. "</p><p>Her skin warms at the kindness of his offer, but, "I don't know if you can me, Robin."</p><p>"Try me." Robin begins to shed his coat, throwing it in the general direction of his backpack and sits on the floor at the edge of the studio, "Just dance as if I'm not here."</p><p>Suddenly she's nervous, which rarely happens. It must be clear on her face because he reiterates, "As if I'm not here," with a smile.</p><p>"Okay," she whispers.</p><p>It certainly wouldn't do any harm to let someone else see it.</p><p>...........</p><p>Robin is mesmerised by the way she moves. Her talent goes beyond anything he has seen in a long time and, quite frankly, her take on The Evil Queen is terrifying.</p><p>Her song choice is fantastic, and a bit of a guilty pleasure of his outside his usual indie-folk; he recognised the haunting intro to <em>You Should See Me In a Crown</em> almost immediately and Regina uses the music brilliantly.</p><p>She pirouettes flawlessly when there is a buildup of drama in the music, she's added elements of hip-hop and makes it look like those moves were invented to be done in pointe shoes. She uses the beats to exaggerate her movement, her facial expressions scream storytelling and, honestly, he's having a hard time understanding what Gold didn't like about it.</p><p>As the song comes to a dramatic end, she collapses to the floor expertly, staying there until the song fully comes to an end before sitting up.</p><p>Her hair has come slightly loose in places and she is glistening with proof of all the energy she puts into her dancing. "Well?" She asks, collapsed back onto her elbows trying to catch her breath.</p><p>"You were terrifying," he says honestly. "Truly, you're incredible. That's one of the best things I've seen, and I get free tickets to the ballet through work."</p><p>She smiles at him, a warming sight, but it quickly contorts into a frown. "I don't understand," she sighs. "I worked so hard on it and I tried to hard to capture that evil feel." She's defeated, it's all over her face. "What have I missed?"</p><p>"Maybe he doesn't want evil?" Robin wonders out loud.</p><p>"She's the <em>Evil</em> Queen," Regina says as if he missed the huge giveaway in the name.</p><p>"True," he nods. "But what if part of this challenge for you is to see beyond that? <em>Why</em> is she evil?"</p><p>Regina huffs, rolling awkwardly towards the barre to get her water bottle, offering up that, "Maybe she was just born that way."</p><p>Robin disagrees, life isn't that simples. "Evil isn't born," he says. "It's made. I bet if you figure out why she's evil, you will dance from a completely different place."</p><p>For the first time, what he says interests her. She tilts her head curiously, coming to her own conclusion as if it's the most important revelation she'll ever have, "Evil is her armour.</p><p>Nodding, Robin stands from where he is sat as she pulls herself up from the floor.</p><p>"She's a woman who has been seen sunlight and storms just like the rest of us," he says. "He wants to see the woman behind the armour in your performance."</p><p>She seems a tad more at ease, maybe it's knowing that her dancing wasn't a complete disaster and maybe instead it was that she hasn't fulfilled want he wanted her to characterise.</p><p>"You're a genius," she laughs, relieved. "But this Christmas showcase is next week. I don't think I can discover this woman and recreate my dance."</p><p>It's a hefty task, and he doesn't blame her for having her reservations. But if she can dance as well as she just showed him, he's no doubt in his mind that she can do this.</p><p>"I think I know someone who can offer you a new perspective if you'd be willing to trust me and give up a bit of your Saturday morning," he offers without a lick of pressure.</p><p>"Should I be scared?" She asks, extremely curious.</p><p>He laughs at her, happy that they seem to have returned to their normal bantering back and forth. "I don't think so. But I know someone who has the inside scoop on Gold, this assignment <em>and</em> knows how to portray a character."</p><p>"You've intrigued me," she smirks. "Tomorrow?"</p><p>"Tomorrow."</p><p>****</p><p>
  <em>Thank you so much for reading! Chapter Three and Four are completed, but still require a bit of editing, and will be posted on December 26th after the completion of the rest of the advent days.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I've absolutely loved writing this story and can't wait to post the rest for you all.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Happy Holidays, everyone.</em>
</p>
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